I have had my DNA tested through
23andme. My maternal haplogroup is J1b1a, a subgroup of J1.On their website, 23andme has posted the
following information about the origins of haplogroup J1:

“Haplogroup J originated about 45,000 years ago on the
Arabian Peninsula not long after modern humans expanded out of Africa and onto
the Eurasian continent. About 7,000 years ago the expansion of farming carried
daughter lineages of J, including J1, into Europe. Today the haplogroup extends
as far west as Britain and as far east as Central Asia.”

From time to time I conduct descendancy
research on one of my ancestral lines to see if I can bring the line forward to
connect with living cousins. Most recently I have been conducting research on
the Burton line; I began with my maternal 2nd great-grandfather
James H. Burton, Sr., have been working forward in time on each of his children
and their descendants.

I don’t do exhaustive research on collateral
lines, but I do cite all the sources I use so that if I ever need to research
more thoroughly, I will have a solid foundation. If I find information that is
particularly interesting, I may write a blog post about it. Every few months, I
upload a new GEDCOM file to Ancestry Member Trees so that my most up-to-date
information can be found by distant cousins.

Anyone out there also a J1b1a? Or
related to one of the women in my matrilineal line? Does anyone know the
identity of Tamson Garrison’s mother?

Denise - I am also a descendant of Tamson Garrison, although not in direct female descendency. I have also been trying to expand my knowledge of that part of the tree. So far, I have found a couple of family trees at Ancestry.com which show parents of Tamson Garrison. They are given as William Garrison (1747-1819) and Ruth Davis (1750-1823). I have not yet verified this, but will continue working on that now.